Bristling Brazil

Sunday

Jul 7, 2013 at 12:01 AM

Brazil’s been in a riotous mood even longer than Turkey (or Egypt for that matter). What started several weeks ago as an organized protest against bus fares has become a movement of general dissatisfaction...

Brazil’s been in a riotous mood even longer than Turkey (or Egypt for that matter). What started several weeks ago as an organized protest against bus fares has become a movement of general dissatisfaction over a range of issues, such as corruption, crime, poor schools and the high cost of hosting next year’s world soccer championships and the Summer Olympics in 2016.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, whose popularity has plummeted lately, called for a list of changes in a nationally televised speech, followed by the passage, in response, of several laws in Brazil’s normally sleepy congress — followed by yet more demonstrations.

No specific event seems to have set off these protests, some of them violent, which have now resulted in looting, robbing of bystanders and at least eight deaths, including a police officer. Street protests resumed in Brazil’s largest cities (Sao Paolo, Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte) even after Ms. Rousseff and the legislature in the nation’s capital, Brasilia, tried to respond.

“Brazil’s Congress has never worked this hard or this fast,” says Brasilia political analyst David Fleischer. That only seems to have stoked dissatisfaction amid feelings that the response was inadequate.

Sociologist Irene Loewenstein, quoted while protesting, said real change is unlikely because “it’s just not within [politicians’] world views.” A leader of the free bus-fare movement said, “If they have money for stadiums, they have money for zero [bus fares].”

Swift political action in immediate response to mass demonstrations can be a double-edged sword. The actions are often considered insincere and spark more protest. As someone once supported by many Brazilian demonstrators, the left-leaning Ms. Rousseff would, you might think, be given some slack.

Think again. Political loyalty can be fickle. If the mass protests continue in Brazil, they may add another layer of frisson, atop extraordinarily high crime rates, to the global stage being prepared by Brazil for the world’s most popular sporting events.